The Effect of Six Weeks of Walking Exercise in Different Environments of Water and ‎Water-land on the Improvement of Fatigue, Balance and Walking Speed in Multiple ‎Sclerosis Patients in Kerman

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most prevalent disorder debilitating central nervous system disorder in young people. The present study aims to investigate the effect of six weeks walking exercise in two water and water-land environments on balance, walking speed, and fatigue in the patients with this disease in Kerman.

forty female patients with MS were randomly assigned into two groups of water (n=20) and water-land exercise group (n=20). The exercises were performed for three sessions a week, each session for 70 minutes. In the pre-test and post-test, the Berg balance test (Berg) was used for balance assessment, the fatigue severity scale (FSS) was used for assessing fatigue and the 25-foot walk test for speed assessment. Data analysis was performed using the variance analysis method with reiterative sizes and generalized estimating equations in error level of %5 and using SPSS software version 22.

walking exercises have caused significant changes in the improvement of the fatigue and balance of the patients in both groups of exercise in the water and water-land (p < 0.05), but there were no significant changes in the walking speed of the patients (p>0.05). Also, no significant difference was observed in thefatigue, balance, and walking speed between the two water and water-land environments.

Six weeks of walking exercises in the water and water-land environments improves balance and fatigue. But it doesn’t impact the patients' walking speed. Also, there is no difference in the extent of the impact of these exercises in two environments.